On National Day Of Mourning, NFL Players Decided To Not Stand For Anthem

By: Christopher Feery | October 4, 2017

The Las Vegas massacre shook the collective psyche of the nation to its core. The overwhelming majority of people have used that as an opportunity to place things in perspective. There’s not much else that matters in the face of a tragedy. As such, the only priorities at the moment should be thoughts and prayers for the victims and the families, ensuring that all of the survivors are being tended to, and the investigation into why 64-year-old Stephen Paddock did what he did. That’s pretty clear for most folks, but some are still finding the need to politicize at inopportune times.

As the Daily Mail shares, the Kansas City Chiefs welcomed the Washington Redskins to town for a Monday Night Football game that was broadcast by ESPN. The flag flew at half staff at Arrowhead Stadium as an acknowledgement of the mourning for the victims of the Vegas massacre, and the playing of the National Anthem was a particularly emotional experience for the capacity crowd in attendance. While the overwhelming majority of players stood at attention and showed their respect, there were some outliers.

Three members of the Kansas City Chiefs decided not to stand at all. Cornerback Marcus Peters and linebacker Ukeme Eligwe decided to remain seated on the bench, while linebacker Justin Houston took a knee. While the focus of those in attendance was on the anthem, it was impossible not to notice the three players that were sticking out like sore thumbs.

Fans in attendance kept it together and allowed the focus to remain where it should be, but there were signs sprinkled throughout the crowd in anticipation of potential anthem protests.

“Praying 4 Vegas - take a knee for the right reason,” read one sign.

“Protest on your own time,” read another sign.

Reaction quickly flowed in on social media, as the camera picked up Peters sitting on the bench as the anthem played.

Irony reared its head on the opening drive of the game, as Redskins wide receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr. burned Peters for a 44-yard touchdown. It’s unclear if his focus had remained seated on the bench when it should have been on the field.

The anthem protests by NFL players have become an incredibly hot-button issue. There’s no easy solution out there, and the arguing over it is nothing short of tiring. Eventually, we can only hope that common sense will rule the day on both sides of the argument. In the meantime, Peters and others that protest the anthem need to do some serious soul-searching. There’s a time and a place to get a point across, and a failure to recognize that only leads to alienating people to the point that they’re not going to listen to what you have to say.